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MaddowBlog-As Cabinet secretaries prioritize distractions and trivialities, Rubio focuses on fonts
As the nation’s chief diplomat turns his attention to typefaces, it’s hard not to wonder: Doesn’t he have better things to do?
Rubio focuses on fonts, Duffy focuses on airport pull-ups, Hegseth focuses on paintings, Noem focuses on photo-ops, and Trump focuses on ballrooms and bathrooms ...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-12-11T18:04:51.602Z
Shouldn’t they have other things to do? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/as-cabinet-secretaries-prioritize-distractions-and-trivialities-rubio-focuses-on-fonts
When the State Department changed the fonts on official documents to Calibri in 2023, it had a good reason. As The New York Times reported, the move “was intended to improve accessibility for readers with disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia, and for people using assistive technologies, like screen readers.”
This week, the department undid that move. Reuters reported:
The Times report on this added that for the nation’s chief diplomat, who issued an “Action Request” memo to U.S. posts around the world, reversing course on font selection was part of “a push to stamp out diversity efforts and … return to tradition.”.....
And this is the moment that the top diplomat for the world’s preeminent superpower decided to issue an international declaration to U.S. embassies, missions and outposts about … a typeface?
As ridiculous as this might seem, it’s part of a pattern in which White House Cabinet officials can’t seem to shake their interest in distractions and trivialities. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has devoted time to helping air travelers who want to do pull-ups at airports. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has invested a bizarre amount of interest in paintings, library books and grooming standards. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has embraced camera-ready tactics and performative politics to an almost cartoonish degree.
And then, of course, there’s Donald Trump himself, who appears far more interested in ballrooms and bathrooms than governance.
As Rubio joins the club and turns his attention to fonts, it’s hard not to wonder: Don’t these guys have more important things to do?
This week, the department undid that move. Reuters reported:
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken’s decision to adopt Calibri a ‘wasteful’ diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
The Times report on this added that for the nation’s chief diplomat, who issued an “Action Request” memo to U.S. posts around the world, reversing course on font selection was part of “a push to stamp out diversity efforts and … return to tradition.”.....
And this is the moment that the top diplomat for the world’s preeminent superpower decided to issue an international declaration to U.S. embassies, missions and outposts about … a typeface?
As ridiculous as this might seem, it’s part of a pattern in which White House Cabinet officials can’t seem to shake their interest in distractions and trivialities. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has devoted time to helping air travelers who want to do pull-ups at airports. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has invested a bizarre amount of interest in paintings, library books and grooming standards. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has embraced camera-ready tactics and performative politics to an almost cartoonish degree.
And then, of course, there’s Donald Trump himself, who appears far more interested in ballrooms and bathrooms than governance.
As Rubio joins the club and turns his attention to fonts, it’s hard not to wonder: Don’t these guys have more important things to do?
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Biden administration’s shift to a sans serif font, to assist people with vision issues, a “wasteful” diversity move.
Link to tweet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/10/calibri-font-rubio-state-department
A sans serif font, Secretary of State Marco Rubio just decreed, is simply inadequate for world-class diplomacy.
Rubio on Tuesday ordered the agency to immediately cease using the Calibri font and go back to Times New Roman in official communications, reversing another Biden administration policy intended to help employees who are visually impaired or have low-vision issues.
In a secure memo to staff with the subject line “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” he described the decision of predecessor Antony Blinken — directing the department to use a larger sans serif font in high-level internal documents — as a “wasteful” diversity move. Rubio labeled Times New Roman “more formal and professional.”....
The typeface shake-up is the Trump administration’s latest unraveling of Biden administration actions. Rubio — who’s currently serving as secretary of state, acting national security adviser and acting archivist of the United States — is terminating offices and initiatives created to promote and foster diversity, equity and inclusion, both in Washington and at overseas embassies and consulates. He also has ended foreign assistance funding for DEI projects abroad.....
But accessibility and vision impairment advocacy groups widely recommended and advocated for sans serif fonts, noting that those without decorative “wings” and “feet” (the small lines or strokes at the end of characters, common in serif fonts like Times New Roman) are more legible and easier to read for people with visual impairment.
Rubio on Tuesday ordered the agency to immediately cease using the Calibri font and go back to Times New Roman in official communications, reversing another Biden administration policy intended to help employees who are visually impaired or have low-vision issues.
In a secure memo to staff with the subject line “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” he described the decision of predecessor Antony Blinken — directing the department to use a larger sans serif font in high-level internal documents — as a “wasteful” diversity move. Rubio labeled Times New Roman “more formal and professional.”....
The typeface shake-up is the Trump administration’s latest unraveling of Biden administration actions. Rubio — who’s currently serving as secretary of state, acting national security adviser and acting archivist of the United States — is terminating offices and initiatives created to promote and foster diversity, equity and inclusion, both in Washington and at overseas embassies and consulates. He also has ended foreign assistance funding for DEI projects abroad.....
But accessibility and vision impairment advocacy groups widely recommended and advocated for sans serif fonts, noting that those without decorative “wings” and “feet” (the small lines or strokes at the end of characters, common in serif fonts like Times New Roman) are more legible and easier to read for people with visual impairment.
